The hype that has surrounded Battlefield 1 for the past few months has been something the franchise hasn’t experienced since the early days. At a time when the gaming community has been pleading for the return of a WWII shooter, EA DICE went and did one better by doubling back to WWI, and it’s fantastic. Battlefield 1 is a beautiful tragedy that perfectly highlights the savagery of The War to End All Wars. It brings to light one of the world’s darkest times by adequately portraying the global conflict shrouded in pure chaos.

Battlefield brings that chaos full circle within its flagship campaign mode by taking a unique approach to what's seen as a rather straightforward and somewhat stagnant war. DICE decided to highlight the depth of WWI by breaking the campaign up into five separate stories as opposed to one linear experience. The game perfectly captures the uniqueness of The Great War and how it affected separate parts of the world through this approach. Being able to battle through five different mini stories not only expands the replay value of the title but it’s simply fun to play as multiple characters. The only glaring flaw within the campaign mode is the attention focused on the game’s heavy machinery as opposed to enduring its trench warfare. Outside of that caveat, it’s robust and entertaining to play.

Where Battlefield fails to connect gamers to the historical significance of trench warfare in the campaign mode, it certainly makes up for it during the multiplayer modes. Domination, in particular, brings out the close combat WWI was known for. This multiplayer offering pins small groups of players together within extreme close quarters, daring them to capture and collect more flags than the opposing team. The mode itself isn’t exactly the lure, but rather the ability to battle right in the face of your enemy is what makes this one a top pick for me. It isn’t too stuffy nor does it leave the bad taste of spawn killing in your mouth – it’s chaos from the start as you’re forced to use just about anything within the environment to take cover.

Rush and War Pigeons follow up Domination as the second and third of five multiplayer offerings, just behind classic Death Match and everyone’s favorite, Conquest. Both modes are relatively similar and send players through a maze of gunfire and destruction to either attack or defend the telegraph in Rush or revive and release pigeons for artillery support in War Pigeons. Both modes are equally entertaining to play with unique twists that keep them both fresh and separate, even after a few hours of gameplay.

Conquest, the one multiplayer mode that has been a staple of the franchise, is even more epic in Battlefield 1. DICE describes this game mode as a “massive all-out war,” but it’s so much more than that – it’s pure historical chaos that embodies everything we love about this game. I found myself fully engrossed within this particular game mode from nearly start to finish. I couldn’t get enough of rushing random buildings full of lowly opponents while 8-12 guys followed behind me. There is something so genuinely awesome about dumping 64 players into a room and battling online without an ounce of lag in sight. This is still an incredible feat in my mind, especially for console gamers.